BRASÍLIA, Brazil — President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s campaign has asked Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court to disqualify right-wing challenger Flávio Bolsonaro, alleging Meta limited Lula’s content to boost his rival ahead of Sunday’s presidential run-off, BBC News reported.
The petition, filed Wednesday, asks the court (TSE) to investigate Bolsonaro and running mate Alfredo Gaspar for “abuse of economic power and improper use of social network” and to bar Bolsonaro from running for eight years. Bolsonaro answered with his own petition seeking Lula’s disqualification, accusing the government of using data from official databases to send mass WhatsApp messages promoting social programmes.
Meta has denied treating the campaigns unequally and said it would comply with a Brazilian court order to treat both candidates equally. On Wednesday a report led by the UN special rapporteur on freedom of expression said information, “including from Meta employees, suggests that accounts linked to one side of the presidential race were disproportionately curtailed.”
Bolsonaro, son of convicted former president Jair Bolsonaro, narrowly led Lula in the Oct. 4 first round but fell short of 50%. Polls suggest Sunday’s vote among Brazil’s 159 million registered voters will be extremely close, with the economy and corruption top of mind, CBC News reported.
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